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Following in the footsteps of my review of Wayne's book, "The Last Great Walk," which I began with the exact same phrase, " Following in the footsteps of...," I am now doing so again for his revised and updated version of, "And A Bottle of Rum," which, frankly, I did not review on "...Rum's..." inaugural voyage.
First off: any cat whose rule of thumb is, "never visit a new state without stopping by a liquor store to see what's in stock," has my full endorsement. Period. Exclamation Point. I'm buying you a drink.
The subheading of the book is, "A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails." This is true. These cocktails are (in order of appearance in this intoxicating Cast-of-Characters): Kill-Devil, Grog, Flip, Bombo, Punch, Prune Water, Daiquiri, Rum & Coke, Mai Tai, Mojito. And each one, literally, does contribute to telling an accurate history of the New World that pulls together quite neat-ly, nicely and last call when all of their histories are taken as a whole.
From Ernest Gantt to Ernest Hemingway, I truly wish my high school history class presented the facts of our genesis in this manner. And not to be missed are these other libations of wackiness when you sidle up to this literary bar: "Where the Wet Begins," and, "he liked to paint 'ice-skating nuns and perky otters.'" Really.
One reason why I drink and obsess about and seek the history of cocktails is because of the world they fostered and the celebrities that drank them and the way they are celebrated in their art of dedicated creation by those bartenders that do it best. Not much is sexier than enjoying a toe-curling generational cocktail that helped change our world with great company in an amazing bar. Nothing. (Well. Almost nothing...)
And when you do so, you are a part of that history. "And A Bottle of Rum," is the real deal. Read it if you enjoy, are intrigued by or fascinated by any of the above.
For those of you who always look for a (Mc)fly in your drink, the only quibble I have is that Wayne says of the Papa Doble and the Hemingway Special, that, "Neither drink, it saddens me to report, is of much merit."
Says you! I differ in opinion--and fall to the yummy side of--this matter of Ernest Hemingway. But why quibble while quaffing? There are plenty of rumbunctious libations we can agree on. Relax, choose one--or many--and put thy toes in the proverbial sand...with, "And A Bottle of Rum," in hand.
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (June 5, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307338622
- ISBN-13: 978-0307338624
- Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.7 x 8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
- Customer Reviews: 116 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#678,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #224 in History of Cuba (Books)
- #439 in Slavery & Emancipation History
- #622 in Cooking Humor
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